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Comment by 1337biz | Hacker News Reader

So, how do I root my phone similar to that guy so I will have access to it for the rest of my life?

You don't have to root your phone to use Cerberus. However if you want to keep Cerberus running even after a factory reset you have to do this (from Cerberus FAQ):

The easiest way to install Cerberus as a system app is with the "Convert to system app" feature of Link2SD: install the app, open it, long-press on Cerberus in the list of installed apps and select "Convert to system app".

I had Cerberus installed for several years. I converted it to be a system app after watching the video. Now I secretly hope to be able to record something similar if it gets stolen.

You can also flash a disguised version (the app will have the name "System Framework" and a stock Android icon)[1].

[1] https://www.cerberusapp.com/get

After that you can set it to be run only with a specific number entered in the phone dialer, so the shortcut isn't visible in the app drawer.

You have to really know about Cerberus to find it, or be knowledgeable to re-flash the device when you steal it. That's what it makes it a very good anti-theft app.

Just follow standard instructions from XDA to root your Android phone and then buy Cerberus pro and install it.

I'm not familiar with Cerberus but what's stopping Cerberus from being hacked and having every phone be snooped on?

Cerberus gets pretty bad reviews recently on the Play Store. Seems like the developer reneged on a load of lifetime licences and locks people out of the app because "you're not using it properly" [©Apple]... also, quite a few people say it doesn't work very reliably anyway

The dev had a giveaway of lifetime licenses then changed his mind because of fallen revenue and set those licenses to expire after a year. Nothing was taken from customers who bought the app. I rather did see this happening then service shutting down or implementing a subscription fee instead.

Lifetime license otherwise costs 3$ for up to 5 active devices at the same time, so it's quite cheap. I bought it 4 years ago and used in on about 5 different Android phones, you can remove older unused devices to keep the limit down.

The main difference between this and other solutions or Android Device Manager is functionality to control the device over SMS commands. Because ADM is useless when the device doesn't have internet connectivity. Even when someone takes out your SIM and inserts another, Cerberus notifies you about the new SIM and sends you the number of it, so you can control the device over the new number.

So, no updates for you?

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